Shepherd Launches Renewable Energy & Power

America’s energy infrastructure is being rebuilt in real time, increasingly around renewable power. The systems that insure it need to change just as fast.

Today, we’re announcing Shepherd’s expansion into Renewable Energy & Power, launching with Primary and Excess Casualty. This is our first step beyond construction and an important milestone for where we’re taking the company.

Why we’re doing this

Shepherd exists to make risk frictionless for the builders and operators shaping our physical world. From the moment capital is deployed, through construction, and into decades of operation.

That mission started in construction. It doesn’t end there.

Renewable power assets are capital intensive, long lived, and foundational to the next era of economic growth. They demand speed, precision, and real partnership from insurance providers. Too often, clients get slow decisions, rigid systems, and underwriting that’s disconnected from how these assets are actually built and operated.

We created Shepherd 5 years ago to challenge that model.

Why now

Energy demand in the U.S. is entering a new phase. Electricity consumption is projected to grow at its fastest sustained pace in decades, driven by data centers, electrification, and industrial reshoring. At the same time, solar and wind now represent the majority of new power capacity coming online in the U.S.

This buildout is happening fast. Insurance hasn’t kept up.

Commercial insurance still moves too slowly for how modern infrastructure gets built. Decisions lag. Legacy systems dominate. Data rarely shows up where it actually improves underwriting decisions or risk selection.

We’ve spent the last several years proving there’s a better way in commercial construction. Renewable power is the next logical extension of that work.

What this means for Shepherd

This launch is about more than a new vertical. It’s about the company we’re building.

Shepherd is evolving into a multi-sector underwriting platform for complex commercial risk. Our ambition is to support critical assets over decades, not just transact policies at a moment in time.

Renewable Energy & Power will become a core pillar of Shepherd alongside construction. Same principles. Same discipline. Same obsession with underwriting quality and partnership.

Today, Shepherd is a team of 70+ people across underwriting, engineering, data science, and operations. This expansion is a reflection of that scale and maturity. We’re building the company we always set out to build.

Our initial focus

We’re starting with a tight, intentional scope.

Assets

• Commercial solar
• Onshore wind
• Battery energy storage systems
• Microgrids
• Fuel Cells
• Hydroelectricity 
• Select power generation and supporting infrastructure

Lifecycle

• Pre-development, vacant land
• Construction (Owner’s Interest) or Project Specific
• Operational
  

Geography

• Countrywide
• We will not offer primary programs in NY state

This focus allows us to underwrite with conviction and earn trust the right way.

Product offering

We’re launching with:

Primary Casualty (Limits up to $2M)

• General Liability
• Commercial Auto Liability & Physical Damage
• Workers’ Compensation
  
  

Excess Casualty (Limits up to $10M) 

These products are designed for sophisticated ownership groups, long-duration risk, and complex programs provided as project specific or asset portfolio solutions. As with construction, many accounts will start in Excess and evolve into broader placements over time.

Leadership and team

This new vertical is led by Alex Casella, who brings deep experience underwriting casualty programs for renewable energy risks and building trusted broker relationships.

Alex’s mandate is straightforward: build a durable underwriting franchise. Strong judgment. Tight feedback loops. No shortcuts.

As submission volume grows, we plan to hire additional underwriters in 2026, focused on operators who combine technical depth with real ownership.

Early broker signal

Before today’s public launch, we’ve quietly been at work. We started conversations and reviewed early submissions with brokers we’ve partnered with for years in construction, alongside new relationships focused on power and energy. The response was immediate and consistent.

Brokers are looking for admitted capacity that understands the asset, moves with urgency, and shows up as a true underwriting partner rather than a transactional market. That signal didn’t come from a pitch. It came from real demand. And it’s what gave us confidence to lean into this launch.

Looking ahead

Renewable Energy & Power is not a side initiative for Shepherd. It’s a direct extension of our mission and a clear step toward the company we’re building.

Our ambition is to create a platform that supports the world’s most important industries as they grow, evolve, and take on increasingly complex problems. This expansion brings us closer to that goal.

This is the next chapter for Shepherd. The work now is building it right.

Submissions

We can't wait to work with you. For appointed brokers, you can send submissions to our team directly at submissions@shepherdinsurance.com.